The Moment His Life Changed
by LilyAnaRose
Summary: "Then, the only feeling Remus knew was not the dull ache of his head, or the hotness of the summer night. It was pain. Remus yelled out as something pierced his leg."


**Disclaimer: I Own Nothing you recognize. All recognizable content belongs to JK Rowling**

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_"Mummy? Can I go outside and play with Joseph and Kayla?" A young, sandy haired boy begged his large amber eyes were pleading and his small hands clasped in prayer. _

_ "Oh let him go out Kimmy, what can it hurt?" A man asked, leaning in back in a wooden chair. He had the same eyes as the little boy, although his were wizened with age. The man waved his wand and the empty bottle in front of him refilled itself with a thick golden liquid. _

_ "Danny, if I let him go out then he would miss his bed time! It may make little sense to you, but you aren't with him when he's exhausted and cranky." The woman, Kimmy, retorted. She was wearing a bright yellow summer dress, her hair, which was the exact shade of the little boy's, was tied in a loose pony tail with a black ribbon._

_ The man, Danny, scoffed at her reasoning._

_ "Oh please Mummy! Pretty please with sugar on top!" The boy begged, clutching his mother's arm._

_ "See Kimmy! You have him resorting to 'sugar on top'!" Danny joked, taking a large slip out of the bottle._

_ Kimmy rolled her eyes before looking at the woman next to her, "What do you say, Mae? How long will Joey and Kay be out for?" _

_ Mae took a sip out of the wine glass in her hand before answering. _

_ "Only for about half an hour, they need to come in to take showers soon, they have Quidditch tomorrow." Mae answered. Mae was a thin woman, who had crystal blue eyes and raven black hair. Her hands were thin and frail, making it seem as though she was a person who had just gotten over a great sickness. _

_ "Oh just let him go, Kimmy. You can watch out of the window and keep an eye on him! This is your last day in town before you have to go back home. Let him have one last night with his cousins." A blond haired man said, coming up behind Mae, placing his large hands over hers as he took the seat right next to her and sat in it. He had warm brown eyes and his face was already showing signs of age._

_ "See Mummy! Daddy, Aunt Mae, and Uncle Roger say I can!" The little boy was basically in his mother's lap, his eyes shining so bright that they could've been used as mirrors._

_ Kimmy looked around at her sister and brother and Law before resting her crystal blue eyes, ones so much like her sister's, on her husband who nodded and smiled before taking a sip of his drink._

_ "Oh fine," she reasoned, throwing her hands up, "but you need to come in as soon as Joseph and Kayla come in…" but her words went unnoticed since they were drowned out by the little boy's cheers._

_ The boy burst out of the back doors, leaving behind the adults, Kimmy's face could be seen watching him through the window. _

_O.O.O.O.O.O._

_ "Okay Remus, you and Kayla hide while I count. Remember, you can only hide on the edge of the woods, no going past the Phoenix Rock, okay?" A young boy instructed; he had blond hair that settled just over his dark brown eyes. His face, which was littered in freckles, was red from running._

_ And just like that, the little boy, Remus, and his cousin Kayla, a short girl with long black hair, were off, running into the darkness, past the boundaries of the light until they were just silhouettes. _

_ Remus ran, his short legs numb with tiredness, but he was having too much fun to rest. He had to beat Kayla, he couldn't be found first, then he would be it and he hated being it, Joseph and Kayla were too good of hiders. He dove under the table; the long checkered table cloth covered his small body. _

_ Minutes passed, making Remus curious to what was going on, Joseph hadn't passed by yet, at least Remus hadn't heard him pass by. Remus poked his head out from under the table cloth, checking to see if Kayla had been found. _

_ "Kaylaaaa! Remussssss! Where are you!" Joseph's voice echoed across the yard, making Remus quickly hide back into his shelter, which made the entire table cloth ripple with movement. Seconds ticked by until the table cloth was thrown up, revealing a smiling Joseph._

_ "Gotchya Rem!" At these words Remus' shoulder's sagged. Great. Now he's 'it'._

_ "C'mon! Let's go find Kaykay!" Joseph took off into the night, giving Remus no choice but to follow. _

_O.O.O.O.O.O._

_ "25."_

_ "26". _

_ "27."_

_ This was brilliant._

_ "33."_

_ "34."_

_ "35."_

_ He should've never looked out from under the table._

_ "49"._

_ "50."_

_ Remus opened his eyes and took a deep breath._

_ "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" he ran away from the tree that served as a counting place, trying to find a place that was large enough from Joseph to hide in, between Joey and Kay, Joey was always the one that could be found, his height really worked against him._

_ "JOEEEEEEEEY! KAYYYYYYYY!" Remus shouted, seeing if the trick that his cousin used would work vice versa. _

_ He stood still._

_ Stayed silent._

_ And waited._

_ No luck. _

_ Remus began to walk near the woods, these were the boundaries after all, maybe Joey could be hiding behind a big tree, maybe Kayla could be curled up in a log; these options had been used numerous time, why not now? The boundaries have never changed, never past Phoenix Rock; that was the rule._

_ Remus stopped his search momentarily, his eyes looking around for the Rock; he could just make its outline out in the distance. _

_ Suddenly, some leaves rustled in a berry bush to his left. Remus' head automatically swung in that direction, his large eyes zeroing in on the bush that refused to stop moving. _

_ "Joey?" Remus asked, taking a step towards the bush._

_ More rustling._

_ "KayKay?" Remus was on the very edge of the woods, he was in line with the first tree now. _

_ The rustling stopped._

_ "C'mon guys! This isn't funny, I found you. Just come out." Remus' voice was shaking with fear, something wasn't right. Joseph and Kayla wouldn't scare him like this. His heart was racing, every hair on his body was up straight, and Goosebumps covered every inch of his skin. _

_ Silence._

_ Then, Remus heard something else. It wasn't rustling, nor was it anything he'd ever heard before, it was something inhuman, a cross between a laugh and a growl._

_ Then eyes appeared from the bottom of the bush, terrible black eyes. Remus knew he had to run, that this was not something to trifle with, but nothing in his body seemed to work. His legs wouldn't move, then, the bush morphed into something, a sort of dog, a wolf. It looked up at the moon and belted out a long eerie howl. _

_ Remus jumped back, he tripped over something when his feet made contact with the earth, making him trip and fall backwards, his bum hitting the ground hard. _

_ "REMUS!" His dad's voice called out, Remus swung his head around, trying to find his dad in the pool of the full moon's light. Danny was running toward him, his wand lit and outstretched in front of him. _

_ Remus tried to get up, but before he could even obtain his balance, something knocked him over. His head struck the ground hard, making his vision go black around the edges. _

_ Then, the only feeling Remus knew was not the dull ache of his head, or the hotness of the summer night. It was pain. Remus yelled out as something pierced his leg. _

_ "NO!" Danny yelled, "REMUS! NO! STUPEFY!" _

_ The world then went black._

Remus Lupin jerked awake. His body was shaking all over, his leg was killing him, and his body was lathered in several coats of sweat.

It took a moment for Remus to understand that he wasn't at Joey and Kayla's house. How could he? They hadn't let Remus in their house since that night 10 years ago. Aunt Mae had been too afraid of Remus "infecting their children with his disease" even though Joseph had graduated and moved out three years ago, Kayla had just graduated and was now living in France.

By the curtain of red surrounding him, Remus could tell that he was in his four poster bed in the 5th year boy's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower.

Remus got up and pushed aside the thick curtain that surrounded his bed, immediately being washed in the light of the moon.

The Moon. How he resented the moon, while others saw beauty in its shine, Remus only saw the evil. He saw how it could ruin lives in only one night. Daniel never forgave himself for letting Remus go out; Daniel would sit outside of the basement every full moon, where Remus transformed. He would stick his hands under the door, even though only his fingers fit through the small spot. Remus would link his fingers in his fathers in the hours before the moon started to rise. Daniel would sit with his forehead against the door, apologizing for everything. For upsetting Fenrir Greyback, for letting Remus go out when his mother said otherwise, for not being fast enough, and for not trying hard enough to find a cure. Every month they would go through the same routine. Daniel would apologize and Remus would console him. Telling him that he couldn't have known what was going to happen, that he came as fast as he could, that there was no cure.

That's one of the biggest things that Remus missed most about home. He missed his father and mother; he missed consoling them, which kept his mind off of the approaching moon. Here, at Hogwarts, the moon was always on his mind.

Kimmy had never forgiven herself either. She had forgiven Danny, he couldn't have known what was to come, but she never forgave herself for not having the resolve to be the one the keep Remus inside. Kimmy had lost so much. Her shiny sandy hair had turned limp and brittle. Bags had formed under her eyes which had turned sad. Oh yes, Remus has seen the moon ruin people.

"Moony?" Remus turned around to see a half awake Sirius looking at him.

"Hey Padfoot." Remus turned back to the source of his agony.

"What time is it?"

"It's early, Pads."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Remus thought this over. Was he okay? It was obvious he wasn't, he was a werewolf living in a world which hated what he was. He was the cause of the strain in a once strong family relationship. He was the source of his parents stress and sadness. He was the sole cause that they youth and finances had run dry so early. So was he okay?

"I will be. Not right now. But I will be."

"Okay." Sirius yawned, the full impact of the words Remus had just said had not hit him yet. Sirius was asleep within minutes.

"I will be okay."

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**-LilyAnaRose**

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